Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.

Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016.

Descriptions

Fish products are among the most highly-traded commodities. The proportion of fish harvests that is internationally traded has steadily risen over time. As a result, trade has become a key driver of the dynamics of local fisheries, with a range of ecological, economic and social impacts. This paper reports empirical evidence on a) the multiple ways in which global trade affects local fisheries b) the consequences of global trade on local fisheries and c) barriers to consumers perceiving these impacts. The pros and cons of fish trade globalisation for small scale fisheries is the subject of a highly contested debate, which is narrowly focussed on the export of products from small scale fisheries. However examples show that global trade is also an important driver impacting small-scale fisheries through imports of seafood, and other colateral impacts. The consequences of global trade for local ecosystems and communities vary between fisheries. Our systematic analysis of 22 cases from around the world suggests such differences are due to the existence of functioning national institutions, the strength and location of consumer demand, value chain structures and biological characteristics of exploited stocks. While demand drives local exploitation consumers are insulated from local impacts such as local fish stock declines. We suggest this is due to a range of mechanisms, that prevent price signals that could otherwise alert consumers to such impacts. We test the evidence for these in the case of North Sea cod and discuss three complementary strategies to deal with this asymmetry.